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NAACP Condemns GOP Rule-Breaking to Pack the Courts

Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, made the following statement in response to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s reckless move to shorten the Senate’s consideration for district court nominees and certain executive nominees.

“This power grab should fail. Contrary to what Sen. McConnell says, these are not “lower tier nominees.” District court judges serve for a lifetime. These are trial judges who make consequential decisions about claims, parties, juries, evidence, and in criminal cases, sentencing. They will be ruling on our rights for a generation or more.

“Trump’s judicial nominees warrant more Senate scrutiny, not less. They are overwhelmingly white and male, with extreme ideologies. Their records of hostility to civil rights are disqualifying, but confirmations at breakneck speed will conceal critical facts. Thomas Farr’s nomination to a North Carolina court was defeated because of information revealed in the eleventh hour that he personally engaged in voter suppression.

“If Sen. McConnell prevails, dozens of Trump’s nominees could be confirmed almost overnight. By jamming through this rule change, the GOP could increase the number of Trump judges by over 40% in a couple of weeks. This is unacceptable.

“The NAACP is fighting to keep our courts fair, independent, and diverse. We urge everyone to join this battle to #SaveOurCourts.”

An official event of the "Year of Return, Ghana 2019," #JamestowntoJamestown is a spiritual, historical and reconciliatory journey in commemoration of the 400 year anniversary of the first documented enslaved Africans' arrival in the U.S. Register today at https://t.co/DrpcSjd2HV

Think you know what voting rights obstruction looks like? #WeVoteWeCount
https://t.co/73OHUOdYnq Read why one #Maryland resident says, “Voting isn't as easy as some make it out to be.” LINK: https://t.co/73OHUOdYnq

"We must DISSENT from a nation that has buried its head in the sand, waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away...We must dissent from the poverty of vision and the absence of moral leadership."
~ Thurgood Marshall #QOTD